La Traviata: Tuberculosis in the Arts

Former Secretary of the Maryland Department of Health, Dr. Martin Wasserman, discusses the tragic tale of Violetta, a beautiful but sickly courtesan who suffers from “consumption” in Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. Dr. Wasserman will discuss the nineteenth century medical understanding of tuberculosis (consumption), and how the disease served as a vehicle for ill-fated love in La Traviata, La Boheme,and other nineteenth-century operas. In his humorous, engaging, and unpredictable style, Dr. Wasserman also explores the impact of consumption on the wider world of theater, literature, painting, and film.

Dr. Wasserman, a graduate of Johns Hopkins Medical School, is a pediatrician and an attorney. He lives in Ellicott City, Maryland. He is a regular speaker for Opera Docs, a group of opera-loving physicians who give talks on medical issues in opera.

This exciting adaptation of a classic fairy tale is the perfect way to share the magic of live opera with the children in your life! Presented in partnership with Towson University’s Opera in a Can.[...]